FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a ball chain having a multiplicity of spaced interconnected balls; The invention is also directed to the provision of a splicing means for splicing such a ball chain. Prior Art
There are known many types of ball chains for use as ornamental parts and accessories associated with building interiors or as sprocket chains. Typically, they are in the form of a chain of a predetermined loop length comprising hollow metallic balls interconnected in equi-distantly spaced apart relation by means of connecting wires or textile yarns, or balls of a plastics material injection-molded onto a textile yarn or string at equal intervals along its length. Apart from these ball chains of limited lengths, there are also known such ball chains of a substantially endless length which are designed to be cut to desired individual product lengths and spliced together to suit a particular application.
It is a conventional practice to sever one of the plastic balls in an endless chain at each of opposite ends of a length thereof into identical halves and join together the two corresponding halves at the respective ends by means of an adhesive compound. This conventional splicing method has a drawback in that it requires a cutting device to sever the balls and a holding device to hold the balls during glueing in most cases at the site of installation where the ball chains are applied for example for interior decoration. Furthermore, with hollow metallic balls, it is difficult to splice without deformation by cutting pressure.
Another means of splicing a ball chain is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 62-182992 in which a ball chain is cut to a predetermined length across bulged ends of a connecting string interconnecting individual balls at equal intervals and injection-mold a new ball onto such bulged ends of the string. Such ball chain are mostly factory-produced with specified limited lengths which are not always in conformity with a particular desired end use in a building interior.